The Arrival of Rabbi Judah HeHasid’s Followers and the Expulsion of the Ashkenazim

In 1700 Rabbi Judah HeHasid arrived in Jerusalem together with many Jews from the lands of Ashkenaz and Poland, who came to Jerusalem in anticipation of the coming of the messiah. Rabbi Judah died a few days after the group arrived in the city and the leaderless community fell deeply into debt. In 1720 Muslim creditors attacked the Ashkenazi community, destroyed the synagogue (which thereafter became known as the Hurava (“the ruin”) and expelled them from the city. As a result, for almost 100 years thereafter, until the beginning of the nineteenth century, Ashkenazi pilgrims were not allowed to enter Jerusalem or live there unless they disguised themselves as Sephardic Jews.